Divine Rivals was an utter delight! A fantasy novel with a historical fiction feel and an enemies to lovers romance, Divine Rivals has something for everyone. The story is centered around Iris, whose brother has gone to fight in the gods war and hasn’t been heard from since. She takes a job at a newspaper where she competes with Roman Kitt for a columnist job. Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them under her wardrobe door where they end up in the hands of Roman. When he anonymously starts to write her back, they forge a connection that the frontlines of battle and a war between gods can’t break. The You’ve Got Mail vibes hooked me and I finished the book in one day because I had to know what happened with Iris and Roman. This book has something for everyone and is one of my top reads of the year!

I loved this book. I was so happy I got approved to read before release. I'll definitely be purchasing a copy to put on my shelf!

I have loved everything I've read by Rebecca Ross, and I think this is not only my favorite of hers but it also jumped to the list of my all-time favorite books.

This book is full of action and runs the whole gambit of emotions, and the family Iris finds in the midst of war is heartwarming. I loved how the romance between Kit and Iris was built, starting as this workplace rivalry where they both want to get ahead, but see the softer more vulnerable side while exchanging magical letters.

The romance is beautiful and magical, and I love Iris' new family that lets her know she isn't alone anymore. I loved the building tension as the battle is getting closer and closer to where Iris is, and how she is getting closer to finding her brother. And that ending! OMG, hopefully, we won't have to wait too long for the next book because I'm desperate to find out what happens next!!

Obsessed with this book!
One of my favorites this year!

The story begins with iris letting her brother go off to war to fight for Enva a GOD. They say there heart felt goodbyes

The story jumps to her working as a news reporter for the Oath Gazzette she has a Rival 😉 Roman Kitt. They kind of start a little romance through type writers but iris has no idea.

Tragedy strikes and Iris take her typewriter to find her brother on the front lines. She still is able to to write and send of her magic letter by her magical type writer!

Roman then runs right after her and also becomes a war correspondent! Iris has still no idea who she is typing too!!! But in the end will Roman tell her or not? Guess you will have to read to find out!

Beautifully written I truly loved the world building and the touch of romance all through out the book!

Please go purchase April 1st!

Gods at war with civilians caught in the crossfire? Yes, please. However, I don’t have the words for a proper review.

As soon as Iris mentioned typing on a typewriter, I knew I would be hooked. Her and Carver’s characters are richly descriptive, and the reader comes to know them intimately. The book didn’t seem all that magical, to begin with. It felt a touch of historical fiction, which I absolutely enjoyed. But then magical elements started seeping into the storyline. The more I read of what’s possible and what the gods can unleash, the more I wanted.

I love the varying elements Ross added to this. It is multi-layered, with many moving cogs, characters who feel like family, a war amongst the gods, some mystery, romance, fantasy, and more. While I didn’t know this was a book 1 when I first requested it, I’m happy there is more to come from the world and characters.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s for sending this over.

Oh man Rebecca Ross is a great storyteller but this book is kind of a mess lol. Premise and worldbuilding and vibes are all excellent, the writing is quite messy and not up to her usual standard (this is where I recommend you pick up A River Enchanted), and the whole thing could have used a little more time in edits. It's promising but not fully cooked. I'll still read the next one, though. You had me at magic typewriters.

I never, in a million years, thought I would need a story about competing war correspondents falling in love. This is so vastly different from Rebecca Ross’s other books I’ve read, but it has firmly cemented her place as a favorite author. I’ll probably buy anything she releases at this point because this book was SO good.
Iris Winnow dropped out of school after her brother went off to war to fight for the goddess Enva. Her mother started drinking to forget, and after winning a writing competition, Iris is now working for one of the major newspapers in the city of Oath to pay the bills. One of Iris’s few joys is typing up her feelings on her grandmother’s old typewriter and sliding them under the closet door portal to her mysterious penpal. Roman Kitt works at that same newspaper and he’s Iris’s coworker and competitor for the single available columnist position. Roman is from a wealthy family, but just because the cage is gilded doesn’t make it any less a cage. He’s being forced to marry a woman he barely knows and doesn’t love to further cement his family’s new money position in society - yet another part of his life his father has dictated. Though Iris is his competition, he finds her letters to be both remarkable and comforting though she has no idea that he is the one receiving and responding to her innermost thoughts.
When Kitt gains columnist, Iris leaves and goes to the war front, hoping to find her brother and write about the horrors of war so that the citizens of Oath might send aid to their neighbor and fight against the god Dacre. There she finds new friends and a way to escape her past but then Kitt is right there with her because he’s fallen quite in love with Iris. Iris and Roman Kitt have the most wonderfully satisfying rivals to lovers romance, which creates some truly beautiful moments in this book. This is offset by the horrific losses suffered because Rebecca Ross never lets you forget that even though this is a love story, it’s set in the midst of a violent and terrible war.
I absolutely devoured this book and wouldn’t have guessed that I’d love a WW1-era fantasy story to such a degree as I do this one. The ending is really something else and I am dying for the sequel right now because this duology is meant to be binge read, one after the other. This is one of the best young adult fantasy stories I’ve ever read and also one of the best romantic fantasy stories. It’s fabulous, filled with lore and myth, love, the horrors of war, and friendship. It’s surprisingly hopeful for a story with such dark themes and I think it will appeal to a broad age range of readers.

This book didn't feel intrinsically *fantasy* until the last page. And yet? I still freaking loved it. Imagine taking a WWII book and making it about warring gods instead. Then add in an epistolary romance between rival journalists. Hi, Wednesday Books? I'll take 20. The dual narrators were exceptional, especially for dramatic readings of their correspondences. I'm convinced that this book is best read on audiobook honestly. Iris was so headstrong and determined, while Kitt is infuriating and dapper. Rebecca Ross, I want the latter half now please.

*Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for my ARC and Macmillan Audio for my ALC in exchange for my honest review*

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is a fantasy novel about two journalists competing for a position at a prestigious newspaper amid a raging war between two gods. Iris Winnow needs the position in order to make a better life for herself and her mother after her brother answers a goddess's call to join the battle, and standing in her way is the wealthy and cold Roman Kitt. When the letters she has been writing to her brother magically end up in Roman's hands, he writes back anonymously and they forge a connection as the world continues to crumble around them.

The story reads like a historical urban fantasy with the characters writing letters on typewriters and traveling exclusively by train.  The fantasy elements fit in seamlessly with this setting. The story is written in a combination of normal narrative format with letters mixed in throughout. The dual POV allows readers to fully appreciate the depth of the developing relationship between Iris and Roman before they themselves even fully realize it. While the story could easily be dark and somber, the characters find strength and connection in one another that makes reading it very enjoyable. I found myself having trouble putting the novel down and immediately bought some of the other novels Ross has written before I even turned the final page.

The writing is beautiful and it's the type of story that reminds readers why they themselves love to read. I'm definitely looking forward to discussing this one with my friends upon its release.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this wonderful book.

The hype around this one is well deserved! Rebecca Ross has a beautiful way of writing that really sinks you in to the story and makes it almost impossible to put it down. Divine Rivals is pumped full of plot with a very special magic connecting rivals-to-lovers Iris and Kitt in the midst of a growing war between two gods.

Iris is a fantastic protagonist. She is strong willed, smart/clever and despite her hardships and loneliness in life she is always looking out for others. Iris is the type of person you would be lucky to have as a trusted friend when crap hits the fan because you could always count on her in every way. She is independent but doesnt fall in to any of the usual clichés that make a YA protagonist too much for me. I really loved her and was rooting for her every step of the way!

Kitt and Iris have a perfect rivals-to-lovers setup. Gunning for the same position at their cities newspaper while also secretly being in love with one another gives us plenty of build up that feels natural for their characters and the story at play. They come from very different lives and their independent knowledge and ambitions pair perfectly with one another, two halves to a whole.

The pacing was very well done in my opinion. We werent quickly rushed in to anything and were given proper details for all the things we need to know regarding the war and the world we're in. Nothing felt like it was moving slowly either which is tricky when providing lore.

Overall I think this book is fantastic and everyone should read it! The ending had me clenching my kindle for dear life and now I have to painfully await book 2 (which I absolutely NEED as quickly as possible).

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is an enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance.
 
The story is set in a world where there is a war. Iris is a writer and journalist, and she does everything to hold her family together. But that is rather tough with her brother fighting on the front lines and an alcoholic mother. To deal with all of this she starts writing letters to her brother, but they are magical and someone else actually receives them.
 
And that is no one else than Roman who works with Iris at the Gazette and they both compete for a promotion. I really liked this workplace rivalry and there is just so much more to their relationship. Their families have a distant connection and I loved how this was embedded into the story. Iris is a strong woman who goes her own way in a male dominated world and Roman also does his own thing regardless of the expectations his family has of him.
 
I really liked the concept of this book with letters of enchantment and a world rich with myths and history. The characters found love in the midst of all of this and that was just beautiful to follow.
 
Overall, Divine Rivals is such a unique fantasy with a rich world and loveable characters. I highly enjoyed it and can totally recommend it. 4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

When Iris sets her heart on winning a columnist position at the Oath Gazette, she hopes it will help take her mind off of her brother missing from the front lines in a war against two gods. She also helps it will take her mind off her competitor Roman Kitt, her handsome rival at the newspaper.

To distract herself, she writes letters to her brother and slips them underneath her bedroom wardrobe. To her surprise, one day Iris finds a letter addressed back to her. Who is writing her? Where has her brother gone? What is the magical connection that links Iris to the mysterious stranger who captures her heart in letters?

While I'm not a big fan of fantasy romance, I gradually found myself getting swept up in Iris and Roman's story. Even though I wished the fantasy elements were stronger and the world building more complex, the relationship between the two main protagonists was compelling and always drew me in.

My favorite sections were the letters between Iris and her stranger. They were absolutely gorgeous! They worked as a way to build up both the angst and tension in the plot and also the character growth.

There was defiantly some miscommunication that seemed unnecessary and brought the entire story down a star for me. But by the end of the novel, it didn't annoy me as much as it did in the middle.
The beginning and ending were the strongest for me. I didn't think I wanted to continue on in the series, but something happened right at the end that left me VERY curious about what happens next.

If you enjoy fantasy romance, I'd definitely suggest picking up Divine Rivals.

*Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.

Also just finished reading such an amazing ARC yesterday and I don't know what to do with my life now because I want the next book asap😩 I blame a friend of mine as I'd seen her post about Divine Rivals and I went to request it on Netgalley immediately after seeing that blurb - like hello, an enemies to lovers story with two rival journalists who end up writing letters to each other through magical means? I was like sign me up!!! And my god, the writing was so beautiful right along with the characters!

This was a mix of historical+fantasy with something like a world war setting but with gods and magic - quite unique. And Iris and Roman are two journalists working at the Oath Gazette while competing for the columnist position. Iris has a lot of things on her plate - with a mother who is addicted to alcohol and a brother who went off to war and might be missing. She pours out her frustrations and fears into a few letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, never expecting that Roman Kitt ends up receiving them and they strike up a correspondence - that ends up changing both of their lives!
I love books with epistolary elements in them and I could really feel the connection between Iris and Roman, on paper and when they interact irl too. More than that, I loved the fact that they tried to become the best version of themselves because of each other. I loved watching them gain courage and find strength in vulnerability! Also, the focus on grief and war, and how it changes lives irrevocably was very realistic, but not too heavy as it was balanced well with everything else.

I knew something was going to happen in the last few chapters just like the characters, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop but gods what a cliffhanger. I can kinda guess which direction book 2 would go in but I just want everything to be alright for these two quickly! Please gimme the next book!😩

P.S. Also would love to know more about the gods and what's up with Dacre and Enva - I feel like he must have more motivation for doing all this than just the snippets of the myths that we're getting(feels like a twisted/everything-went-wrong version of Hades-Persephone)

I'm still trying to recover from this book; it's such a phenomenal read. The writing in this book is simple, but it's also lush, beautiful, and immersive. As we experience the story through Iris's and Roman's perspectives, the author seems to focus on the more emotional aspects. The plot doesn't have as much action as I would have expected but I think this was such a good way to develop a greater understanding of the world, the war, and the characters themselves. Iris and Roman were perfect together and I loved the pace of the story. I don't want to say too much because I think this is a book that one should experience themselves, but this story is so beautifully written and it does a great job depicting the realities of heartbreak, grief, hope, and love.

I think I read this entire book without stopping. Rival reporters at the same newspaper, Iris and Roman are competing for a columnist job. The two are most certainly not friends but are both so lonely and desperate for companionship that I just wanted to hug them both and not let go. Iris has been writing letters to her brother who is off fighting the war but she puts them in her warddrobe because she doesn't know where to find her brother. Imagine her surprise when she gets a reply. She and the mystery writer strike up a friendship but when the unthinkable happens, Iris decides to become a front line reporter and go cover the war of the Gods.

I found the world building amazing and could almost picture the scenes unfolding on the page (I never see these things in my brain, it's just black). I loved Iris and Roman, the magic typewriters and all the supporting characters. This is such a stunning story of love, friendship, grief and belonging. I may not forgive the author for the cliffhanger but please know that whenever the sequel releases, I will be dropping EVERYTHING to read it because I need it like now.

Divine Rivals comes out April 4 and is available for preorder. Please do yourself a favor and grab this one. I already have my copy ordered and will be gushing over my love for it when I meet the author at Apollycon at the end of April.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for allowing me to read this advance copy. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did but I'm tearing up again just thinking about it. A truly outstanding read.

3.5 stars
I feel like I was misled by the description slightly. The description gave us the idea of a war of the gods with these poor star-crossed reporters trying to hold on to normal. True it does detail mostly Iris and her writing but the first line is about the gods.

Most of the book is from Iris's perspective. At a certain point though we are able to see a few chapters from Roman as well. This was a nice change. While Iris was dealing with a lot of pressure and trials she just wasn't a very likable character. Iris sees Kitt as a pompous rich boy who is only her enemy. While he does make snide comments in past references during the book he is never mean to her.

So the end of the book was just a setup for the second in the series. Otherwise, it could have ended before then when they were finally together. Sure the war would have still been going on around them but plenty of books do that. This book was only moderately about the war or the gods anyway, it was a background thing always being talked about. The character's interactions and growing feelings were the true focus of the book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is a rom-com in a fantasy setting. The story revolves around Iris, who is a columnist. One day, she starts writing letters to her brother, who went off to war, and slipping them under her wardrobe door. Unbeknownst to her, the letters end up going to Roman, her rival at the newspaper. They start writing letters back and forth with Iris unaware that Roman is who she writing to. Then, Iris decides to leave to become a war correspondent. Will the pair turn from rivals into lovers - even with the added distance?

Here is an atmospheric excerpt from the Prologue:

"Cold fog had settled over the depot like a burial shroud, and Iris Winnow thought the weather couldn’t have been better. She could hardly see the train through the gloam, but she could taste it in the evening air: metal and smoke and burning coal, all woven together with a trace of petrichor. The wooden platform was slick beneath her shoes, gleaming with rain puddles and piles of decaying leaves.
When Forest came to a stop at her side, she stopped as well, as if she were his mirror. The two of them were often mistaken for twins with their wide-set hazel eyes, wavy chestnut hair, and the freckles that spilled across their aquiline noses. But Forest was tall, Iris petite. He was five years her senior and for the first time in her life, Iris wished that she were older than him.
“I won’t be gone long,” he said. “Only a few months, I think.”"

Overall, Divine Rivals is an amazing YA fantasy novel that will appeal to fans of Fantastic Beasts and The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. One highlight of this book is how it is a rom-com in a fantasy setting. I rarely see books like this where the romance is the focus and the fantasy setting is just in the background. Another highlight of this book is the actual love story, which is heartwarming and enjoyable to read. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of fantasy books in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in April!

I loved everything about this book! The romance, the magical realism, the friendships and found family, are all just perfection. It's such a well-written story and I really enjoyed the witty banter between the two main characters. The audiobook is fantastic and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to listen to it. I can't wait for the next book to find out what's really going on!!

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest, spoiler-free review!

It’s the mark of a good book when it makes me set aside anything else I happen to be reading at the same time because I have to find out what happens or the characters are so compelling, etc.

Divine Souls did that for me. It is a story muddied by war but also bursting with hope. My heart was in my throat during fraught action scenes, and I was constantly rooting for Roman and Iris to interact, even in the book’s beginning chapters, where they are posed as rivals. (I’m also a sucker for epistolary elements in stories, and the letter-writing flair in Divine Souls deepened Roman and Iris’ characters and made a great structure for the story)

It’s not a straightforward romance - there are professional and familial conflicts that stand in the way, but the characters always respect each other and the trajectory of their relationship is believable and full of swoon-worthy pining. You just want them safe and able to be together! It does feel like there’s a bit of a “you should wait until marriage” message/trope, which I could explain away by saying it fits the notions of a certain time in history, but while this sometimes feels like historical fiction, it’s purely fantasy. It’s something I noticed but it doesn’t shift my rating away from 5 stars.

The epilogue hints at further exploration of the mythology in book 2, which is one of the only things that I wished this first book went into more detail. Can’t wait for the sequel - thanks so much for the advanced copy!

“I am so afraid. And yet how I long to be vulnerable and brave when it comes to my own heart.”

What to say about this book. It has been a long time since I had a book pull me in — a book that left me thinking about it throughout the day, had me up late into the night for another chapter that left my heart fluttering and one that made my heart ache in the most beautiful of ways. Rebecca Ross has this lyrical way of writing that sings directly into my heart. The worlds she weaves around you make you feel as if you are standing there with the characters, as if you could reach out and grab that warm cup of tea sitting on the desk.

Roman and Iris, how they both individually stole my heart and together tore it apart. Reading through their happiness, pain, sorrow and longing… it left me feeling a sense of understanding. Both of these characters experience things many of us have — the need to appease your family, feeling like you will never amount to what is expected of you, finding people who fit into your life as if they were family… I could go on.

This story was beautiful and tragic, it will make your heartache in the best of ways. Rebecca has quickly become an auto buy author for me and I can’t wait to see what she will create next. Magic typewriters, gods at war, flirty banter and a WWI-esque setting — this book will not disappoint. Perfect for those who love Historical Fiction, Found Family and Enemies to Lovers.